1
as in misleading
tending or having power to deceive
in his deceptive answer about the vehicle's history, the salesman said that the used car had never been hit by another car
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fraudulent
given to or marked by cheating and deception
a mail-order firm indicted for deceptive business practices
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deceptive
The suit seeks up to $10,000 in civil penalties for each potential violation of state law that prohibits deceptive practices, unfair acts or misrepresentation and that date back to 2019.
—
Jose R. Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Nor is there anything untoward and deceptive about it.
—Adam Gelb, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
Our Best Actor brings depth and complexity to a performance of deceptive simplicity, as his character struggles to unlearn a lifetime of avoiding emotional closeness.
—Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 23 Aug. 2025
But Ferguson justified the FTC’s new attack on these treatments by referring to the agency’s traditional practice of pursuing companies for making false and deceptive claims.
—Arthur Allen, NBC news, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
Jose R. Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Nor is there anything untoward and deceptive about it.
—Adam Gelb, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
Our Best Actor brings depth and complexity to a performance of deceptive simplicity, as his character struggles to unlearn a lifetime of avoiding emotional closeness.
—Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 23 Aug. 2025
But Ferguson justified the FTC’s new attack on these treatments by referring to the agency’s traditional practice of pursuing companies for making false and deceptive claims.
—Arthur Allen, NBC news, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deceptive
Adjective
-
Overpayments can occur for many reasons, the agency said, including incorrect wage reporting, failure to meet work requirements or providing false or misleading information.—
Adrienne Roberts,
Freep.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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In court, government lawyers frequently made false or misleading claims about the men’s whereabouts.—
Jonathan Blitzer,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Websites with unusually long browser names or a lack of searchable company representatives or contact information could be fraudulent.—
Tamia Fowlkes,
jsonline.com,
4 Sep. 2025
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Blount deposited money into the account until April 2022, when the bank shut it down and reversed over $70,000 worth of the fraudulent deposits, prosecutors said.—
Olivia Lloyd,
Miami Herald,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Representatives for James have called the fraud claims made against her politically motivated and false.—
Robert Faturechi,
ProPublica,
6 Sep. 2025
-
On the next play, Taylor was called for a false-start penalty.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Maybe not something drastic like a world war, slavery or the Holocaust, but there’s always shady s–t going on.—
Carl Lamarre,
Billboard,
3 Sep. 2025
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Meursault also starts hanging out with his shady and brutish French neighbor, Raymond (Pierre Lottin), whose abusive relationship with an Algerian girl (Hajar Bouzaouit) eventually leads to the murder.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Industry groups insist that they are committed to weeding out dishonest companies that make false claims or sell dangerous products.—
Suzy Khimm,
NBC news,
26 Aug. 2025
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No, it was done to protect dishonest businesses.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The dust of Ogunleye, the crooked end of the street, the large canal by my uncle’s shop, the small stream of water that flowed behind our house into the large canal at the other end of the street, the foul smell that overcame the street the first time, the getting used to, the boys.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
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For a Chicago Cubs lineup that has struggled lately to consistently score runs, let alone put up a crooked number, Friday’s opener against the Colorado Rockies provided the ideal bounce-back environment coming off the sweep in San Francisco.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deceptive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deceptive. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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